What Are You Playing 2019: Alpha Edition

[Frogacuda]

Aggelos is a pretty neat Wonder Boy clone done in a pseudo-SMS style. I'm digging it. I love that Wonder Boy had gained so much profile in the last couple years.

[Vasteel]

It really seems more well known now than ever. Has that ever happened in vidjya before aside from super niche expensive shit?

[gamevet]

I've been playing through the campaign of the Star Craft remasters on PC. I'm really enjoying the level design over that of StarCraft II.

[Changeling]

I finished the story mode of Mortal Kombat 11 last night. Man, that was fucking nuts.

I'm half way through. Its been alot of fun so far.

[Toupee]

Not a video game but a board game: I've been playing a ton of Wingspan with the fiancee. It's hella good.

[Frogacuda]

Cadence of Hyrule

I feel like the "rhythm" gimmick of this game is probably the first thing everyone sees, but the delicious combination of roguelike (as in, proper roguelike) and Zelda is actually really compelling all on its own. I think a lot of people were expecting this to be kind of a reskin of Crypt of the Necrodancer, but it's honestly a much deeper crossover than that. It randomly generates an overworld (it's kind of "jigsaw puzzle" randomization from existing setpieces), complete with puzzles, towns, quests, and shops. There is tons to explore. The dungeons feel like Crypt of the Necrodancer, and they're random every time you enter them, but unlike Crypt they have discrete goals, they're fairly short (let alone infinite), and end in a big boss battle. The whole thing really feels like this 50/50 mix of Zelda and roguelike that really, really works. And then add this simple rhythm gimmick on top of it that foreces you to keep moving and watch enemy attack patterns.

It ends up feeling like more than the sum of its parts. I was really expecting a gussied up Crypt of the Necrodancer with Zelda characters and settings, but this really manages to leveage the Zelda side of things just as strongly. Brilliant little game.

[Melf]

I tried to play NES Crystalis, but the save feature is such a piece of shit. It completely ignores your save every time you load, sending you back to the beginning of the game. I lost 2 hours of progress because of this shit. Fuck this game.

[YellerDog]

Is your battery dead?

[Melf]

Playing on the NES Classic, but it happened to me on the original cart too, even after a battery swap. You save the game, end, and when you continue it starts you back at the beginning. The same thing happens when I load the save.

[Some Stupid Japanese Name]

Crystalis is sorta famously one of those few games where holding in the reset button when powering off is necessary.
Unless you've been doing that, then I don't know.